


Leverage

by Rookblonkorules



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst, Annie Leonhart is a badass, Armin Arlert-centric, BAMF Annie Leonhart, Eren Yeager-centric, Female Hange Zoë, Gen, Hurt Armin Arlert, Hurt Eren Yeager, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Human Trafficking, Kidnapping, Mikasa Ackerman & Eren Yeager Are Siblings, Mild torture, Platonic Relationships, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Armin Arlert, Protective Eren Yeager, Protective Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Protective Mikasa Ackerman, Smart Armin Arlert, Team Dynamics, Team as Family, Violence, brief strong language, no relationships - Freeform, some inconsistencies with canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:26:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28328226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rookblonkorules/pseuds/Rookblonkorules
Summary: Armin is tired of being the weak link.
Relationships: Armin Arlert & Eren Yeager, Armin Arlert & Jean Kirstein, Jean Kirstein & Eren Yeager, Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss & Ymir, Levi & Erwin Smith & Hange Zoë, Mikasa Ackerman & Armin Arlert & Eren Yeager, Mikasa Ackerman & Jean Kirstein, Mikasa Ackerman & Levi, Reiner Braun & Bertolt Hoover & Annie Leonhart, Sasha Blouse & Connie Springer
Comments: 51
Kudos: 108





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This came about because I wanted to do a hurt/comfort story that played on Armin's strengths, because my boy is smart, damnit! Listen, I love protective Eren (and Mikasa!) and I love putting Armin in situations where we can have a protective Eren, but I wanted a story that would a) have all of that and b) actually do justice to the fact that Armin has brains and knows how to use them. Because he is a smart cookie. And I love him for it.

“Eren…” Armin breathed. He shut his eyes and tried to ignore the sharp knife point resting just beneath his jugular. Which was hard to do when any increase in pressure could easily result in him choking to death on his own blood. “Don’t do it.”

So far, Eren hadn’t looked at him, but Armin knew he was listening. Instead, his eyes stayed fixed on the man holding him hostage.

He hadn’t moved either, except fractionally when he’d lowered his hand away from his mouth once he saw the position Armin was in. 

Maybe that was for the better.

Transforming here and using his titan would be all the excuse the military police needed to finally execute Eren as an enemy of humanity and both of them knew this.

It was pressing on Armin’s mind. He certainly hoped it was pressing on Eren’s as well, though it didn’t look like it was. 

Eren would be too focused on Armin’s position to even consider his own. That was just how he was.

The hand on his elbow gripped tighter, pulling him back a step. 

Armin staggered. 

The knife pressed harder and Armin felt a sharp sting and the warmth of a thin rivulet of blood sliding down his throat. 

“Don’t do it, Yeager,” the man at Armin’s elbow repeated. His tone was low and mocking. “Will you listen to your friend and get him killed? Is that what you want?”

“I’ll kill you,” Eren spoke for the first time. “If you hurt him, I swear I’ll kill you.”

“But until then you’ll do exactly what we tell you, yeah?” The man turned his head, rubbing his nose against Armin’s hair. “I’d hate to damage something as pretty as this.”

Armin cringed away from him. 

“Stop it!” Eren snapped. 

“You’re not much in a position to tell me to do anything, Yeager,” the man said, but he did stop, much to Armin’s relief. “Are you ready to play nice? Good. I want you to get your hand away from your mouth. I don’t think you’ll try anything when I have your friend here, but I don’t want to take any chances.”

Eren snarled, but dropped his hand to his side anyways.

“Eren…” Armin protested. 

“Shut up!” He cuffed Armin just above the ear. 

Armin yelped and Eren shouted, “Hey!” 

“Klaus, secure him.”

A second individual, a large man with an oily, untrimmed mustache and a beer gut, appeared on Armin’s right. He stepped behind Eren, dragging both hands behind his back. 

Once Eren was secured, the man lowered the knife from Armin’s throat. 

Armin barely had the time to feel relieved before his hands were also yanked behind his back, bound together at the wrists with a coarse rope. 

“You’re not really the military police,” Armin didn’t know what possessed him to speak in that moment, but once the words were coming, they didn’t stop, “are you?”

The man paused in his movements and Armin flinched before he could control the impulse, wondering if this was going to result in another blow or something worse.

Instead, a long pause followed his bold statement.

And then what he got was a laugh. 

“They told me you were bright, kid.” With a final tug, he secured the last knot and stepped back. “You want to tell me how you reached that conclusion?”

Eren’s eyes flickered questioningly to Armin. 

“Your uniform,” Armin answered quickly. In truth, he hadn’t been sure. It was their reaction that had confirmed his initial suspicions. “It’s the same one the military police wear, but it’s not kept well. Your form is sloppy too. You’re just a couple of common thugs, aren’t you?”

The moment he said it, Armin knew he was wrong. 

They weren’t military police, but they weren’t common thugs either. 

They knew who Eren was or, more specifically _what_ he was, and they had come up with a scheme to obtain him using Armin as their hostage and with the military police uniforms to ensure that any passerby who happened across the scene wouldn’t question what they saw too deeply. 

This was bad.

This was very, very bad.

Without warning, the man holding him pushed his wrists too far up his back and Armin cried out, standing on his toes to try and alleviate the sudden pressure. 

“Is that all?” he asked, leaning in close again. “That evidence is subpar at best. You can’t even call it evidence.”  
“Stop it,” Eren snapped, lunging forward. The man at his elbow held him back. “Armin…” His eyes were wide and frantic.

“Listen,” someone else stepped in, “we need to get them out of here. This place is pretty secluded, but there’s still a chance someone could walk in on this.”  
Armin’s captor released his wrists. He gasped with relief, dropping back to the balls of his feet. 

The man quickly caught him at the elbow, shoving him along before him. 

Armin cast one frightened look over his shoulder at Eren before the man nearly thrust him off his feet.

“Eyes in front.”

There was a covered wagon just ahead and Armin knew what it was for. It was meant to take him and Eren away, hidden so no one can stop whatever is about to happen.

What would they do, once they have them so far away that no one can help them? Kill them?  
His knees were trembling and he staggered once, almost losing his balance when the man jerked him again.

Armin shut his eyes tightly. He was well aware that his terror was obvious and that he was just making this harder on Eren. 

If he were Mikasa… they’d never be in this position in the first place. She’d never let herself be so vulnerable as to become a hostage. 

No one would dare touch her. No one would even dream of it. 

Only he could find himself in this position. 

He was forced into the carriage and shoved immediately to the ground. With no way to catch himself, he hit the floor, smashing his chin. 

Behind him, Eren yelled something indiscernible. 

A hand grasped him by the collar, hauling him up, and he was shoved back and seated at the side. 

“Let me go!” he heard Eren snap as he was undoubtedly wrestled into the wagon as well. “Armin!”

There was the harsh sound of flesh meeting flesh. 

Armin winced.

A hand tangled in hair, dragging his head back. 

Armin’s eyes snapped open and he suddenly found himself staring at Eren.

Even with his hands bound behind his back and blood trickling down his chin from a newly split lip, Eren still had a fire burning behind his eyes.

“Maybe you didn’t quite judge the situation correctly.” Armin was quickly pulled against someone’s chest, a rough hand covering his mouth. “You act out and this one pays for it. What should we break for this infraction? An ankle perhaps?”

A third kidnapper gripped his ankle with strong hands. He was smaller than the other two, with a nasty, weaselly look about his face. 

He noticed Armin staring and winked with a leer. 

Maybe he should have struggled, maybe he should have kicked out, done _anything_ to fight back, but all he could do was breathe harshly through his nose, eyes blown wide with terror. 

“No!” Eren lurched against his captor’s hold, but they kept him back. Nostrils flaring, he glared at them. “Stop it! Don’t do it!”

“I don’t know.” The man holding Armin against him drew the words out slowly. The hands on his ankle tightened and Armin squeezed his eyes shut with a quiet whimper. “Maybe this will take the fight out of you, Titan Boy.”

He didn’t want to watch his own leg break. Just the sound of the bone snapping would be bad enough. 

“Stop. Please.” Surprised, Armin opened his eyes. Eren had stopped fighting them and they’d pulled him back to his feet. “I’ll do what you want.” Armin had never heard Eren sound so defeated before in his life. He didn’t even think Eren- loud and defiant Eren- was capable of feeling defeat. “Just don’t hurt him.”

“Is that so?” the man with the rough hands asked slowly. “Maybe I’ll do it anyways. I think I want to hear him scream.”

“You-!” Eren lunged, but was held back again. A hard blow to the side of his head had him dropping to his knees. 

Armin winced in sympathy.

The man drove his knee into Eren’s gut. 

Eren doubled over, coughing. 

Armin shouted into the man’s hand, twisting his head and trying to break free. An increase in pressure on his ankle served as enough warning for him to stop. 

“That’s enough.” The interruption came from a man who was slender and unassuming in his appearance, but there was no mistaking the authority in his tone. 

He nodded at Rough Hands and Weasel. “Let him go,” he said. “He’s going to have to walk eventually and I don’t want a crippled prisoner on our hands.”

Reluctantly, Weasel released his hold on his ankle and the rough hands were pulled away from his mouth.

Armin sucked in a tearful breath. “Eren…”

He was shoved back to the ground a moment later, forced to sit with his back against the wagon’s side.

“Armin!” Eren’s eyes searched Armin over for any injury even though he had been there the whole time and knew Weasel hadn’t actually hurt him. His ankle still throbbed, a reminder of just how tight Weasel’s grip had been, but he would still be able to walk on it. That was what mattered. 

His own captor wrestled him to his feet, dragging him across from Armin and forcing him back to the floor. 

The apparent leader stepped up onto the wagon, stopping to crouch directly in front of Eren. 

“Before you try anything,” he cautioned, “I’d advise you to think of your friend. I don’t wish to have him harmed, but I will if you give me no other option. Is that clear?”

Eren clenched his teeth and said nothing. 

He sighed, holding a hand up to signal Rough Hands and Weasel. “I said, is that clear?”

“Yes,” Eren finally ground out, begrudgingly. His eyes flickered to Armin. It was enough for Armin to catch the brief flash of panic at whatever wordless threat had just been made. 

“Well, well,” he said, gripping Eren’s chin and tilting his face from side to side. “I seem to have gotten my hands on my very own titan.” 

Eren glared, lips pressed into a thin line, but he endured it.

Armin hated knowing that it was for his sake. 

“Don’t you care?” He finally dared to break the silence. “Eren might be the last chance humanity has against the titans.” Desperation made his voice crack. “Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

In truth, his plea was more selfish than that. 

Eren was his friend. For years, he had been his friend, but he had been more than that too- his protector and his confidante. 

Saving humanity was an admirable goal, but Armin really just wanted to save his best friend.

_Please don’t hurt him._

His throat closed up and refused to let him speak the words.

This man was speaking as if Eren was something to possess and not a human being. 

_My very own titan._

The words sent a chill up his spine. 

The man angled his head to catch Armin with a sly smile. “Humanity?” he asked. “You think I care about something so… lofty as ‘saving humanity?’ As if humanity can be saved. And you… so arrogant of you to assume that your friend here could do the saving.” He released his grip on Eren’s chin and turned to face Armin completely. “It’s about time you learned there’s only one thing that matters to folks like me: money.”

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not really sure what made me decide to tackle this from Sasha's perspective. Originally, it was supposed to be Mikasa, which may actually make more sense, buuuut, I also liked the idea of seeing Mikasa through someone else's eyes.  
> I'm going to try to update this weekly. I've worked up to chapter six (and hopefully, by the time, I get around to posting chapter six, I'll have a lot more done too.)  
> Also, I know I haven't gotten around to responding to every review. I'm sorry, but I've read them all and I appreciate you guys!

Mikasa was so going to kill Eren Yeager. 

Sasha could read it in her face the moment the other girl had unsuccessfully returned from tracking them down.

Although that was only if Captain Levi didn’t beat her to it.

They both had a quiet, sort of simmering rage that frightened Sasha. She thought anything might set either of them off in a moment’s notice and so she was quite content to keep her distance from the both of them. 

If she could get through the rest of the day without being caught up in the crossfire of whatever argument was sure to come once Eren returned, she wouldn’t complain.

Although, in truth, she couldn’t blame either one of them for their anger.

As far as she knew, Eren had just disappeared, evidently having talked Armin into sneaking off with him. What he was thinking, Sasha couldn’t even begin to guess.

She couldn’t claim to be surprised though. They were talking about Eren after all. Rebellion fit with Eren the same way she fit with potatoes. 

It wasn’t like she’d never done the same either- there wasn’t a single one among them who hadn’t gone against the rules at one point or another- but they all knew not to stay away for too long. 

Levi leaned against a wall, arms crossed. He looked deceptively calm to any outsider. 

And Sasha- Sasha thought it best to remain seated where she was. She’d rather not earn the ire of either her captain or her sister in arms. Not even she was that bold. 

It was, of course, at that point that her stomach gurgled and quite loudly. 

Sasha winced, face heating up. She slapped a hand over her mouth and cast a horrified look in her captain’s direction, but he didn’t so much as glance her way, much to her relief. 

“We didn’t find them.” 

She looked up when Jean announced his presence. His arms were crossed and he looked disgruntled- probably feeling put out that he’d had to be out hunting down Eren of all people- but she did catch the hint of genuine worry behind it all.

He might come across as an ass, but she knew Jean cared in his own way. He and Eren might act like they hated each other- and, okay, maybe it wasn’t entirely an act, they seemed pretty sincere in their hatred- but she was certain that he didn’t  _ actually  _ wish for anything to happen to his rival. 

Besides, she didn’t know what he had to be disgruntled about. She’d rather have been out there, tracking down wayward teammates than stuck with a captain and a teammate who could both kill with just a look.

Sasha was just close enough to hear the curse Levi uttered under his breath and he straightened, pushing away from the wall.

She was glad when Connie finally showed up behind Jean, but he didn’t return her smile. 

An uneasy feeling was starting to stir in her gut. 

She had assumed that Eren had simply convinced Armin to sneak off with him, leaving Mikasa out of the loop somehow, which was an impressive feat on its own, and simply lost track of the time. 

Maybe that wasn’t actually the case.

Judging from the stormy look on Mikasa’s face and the stony one on Levi’s, she was guessing they both felt the same way.

“So what do you think?” Connie ventured. “Someone kidnapped him?” He laughed nervously, like he was trying to set their nerves at ease or maybe just his own, but it fell flat.

Sasha wanted to tell him that the attempt was appreciated,maybe slap him on the back in a show of camaraderie, but something kept her mouth shut. 

This wasn’t the time for lightening the mood. 

Even she knew that. 

“He’s a titan,” Connie continued when no one responded to his first inquiry. “Who would kidnap a titan? That’s crazy!”

Sasha had to agree with him there.

“W-wait, hold on,” Jean cut in. He’d gone several shades paler at Connie’s suggestion. “Kidnapped?” 

“Great,” Ymir muttered bitterly. “It’s just like him to inconvenience us at all at a time like this.”

“Ymir…” Krista scolded quietly. 

Mikasa’s expression darkened and she took a step forward.

Ymir scowled, but, by the set of her shoulders, Sasha figured she was preparing herself. 

Levi stepped in front of Mikasa before things could escalate, holding his arms out as if to physically prevent either girl from lunging at the other. 

“Enough!” he snapped, expression hard as he glared at each one of them in turn. “It’s all just speculation at this point. No one knows for sure if Yeager and Arlert were actually kidnapped.” Ymir uncrossed her arms.

Mikasa stepped back, looking only marginally less threatening than she had a moment before. 

If Eren and Armin really had been kidnapped, Sasha didn’t pity whoever it was when they found themselves the recipient of Mikasa’s fury once they were found out.

“So what do you think happened, Captain?” Sasha asked, carefully.

“There’s a possibility that they were kidnapped,” Levi conceded slowly. He stayed between Ymir and Mikasa, though his eyes never left Mikasa. 

“Aren’t we jumping to conclusions?” Ymir broke in at that point, sullen but cooperative. “They haven’t come back, that’s true, but is that any reason to assume they’ve been kidnapped?”

Mikasa glowered.

“Eren wouldn’t…” she began. Then she stopped as if remembering that Eren, in fact,  _ would _ do whatever it was she was about to say _.  _ She sighed, crossing her arms. “He would have come back by now if he were gone of his own free will. Especially if he has Armin with him.”

That, Sasha could believe. 

Levi nodded. “Alright,” he said.

Mikasa stood in silence a few moments afterwards, her lips pressed into a thin line. “I’m going to look for him again,” she finally said and she stepped forward and around them. 

Levi caught her by the arm. “Wait.”

“Let go!” she snapped, jerking her arm, but Levi held firm. They glared at each other, neither one in the least bit quelled by the other’s fury.

Sasha tensed. 

It was like a stillness had settled over them. Even Reiner and Ymir looked uneasy.

Tempers were running hot. How long before one of them snapped and things got violent? That was the absolute last thing they needed. 

“And what is it,” when Levi spoke, his voice was unwavering in the slightest, “you would hope to accomplish by setting out after them on your own? Do you think rushing blindly into whatever mess those two brats have entangled themselves in will help either of them?”

Mikasa clenched her teeth, looking very much like she wanted to do nothing more than ignore his orders. Then, something changed. Her shoulders drooped and she conceded, not with words, but with body language. 

Levi released his hold on her arm and stepped back, watching her from beneath lowered brows. For just an instant, there was an uncharacteristic look of vulnerability on her face, but then it was gone, just as quickly.

Mikasa crossed her arms and stood back. She still looked ready to start a war with someone, but at least she wasn’t actually going through with it. 

Sasha still watched her nervously, knuckles digging into the flesh just above her knees.

“What are we going to do?” she dared to ask.

Even if Levi was against going after Eren now, there was no way they  _ weren’t  _ going to do something.

Eren was too valuable. 

Levi finally looked away from Mikasa, directing his attention to each one of them in turn.

“We’re going to ask questions,” he said. “And then we’re going to get some answers.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning, my next semester of college starts next week, which will inevitably slow down my writing pace. Because of this, the time span between updates will increase. I'm looking at perhaps between a week and a half to two weeks.   
> Next chapter, we'll be seeing Annie- and I am so excited to include her.

_ Money. _

Armin already knew some of the extent of what people would do for money. 

Considering their position, human trafficking was at the forefront of his mind, though his own experience with it was… nonexistent. 

He knew what had happened to Mikasa, however. Even though she was unwilling to speak of the death of her parents and Eren was even more unwilling to speak of what he had had to do to save her, Armin still knew.

Was that… was that what these men intended to do with them? Sell them off? For… for sex? Other things? What else was there?

His stomach dropped and he shut his eyes. His fingers already feel numb and tingly from how tightly the rope has been tied.

Neither he or Eren has said a word to the other since the wagon started moving, though Armin had occasionally caught Eren’s eyes on him. 

Armin felt a tightness in his chest and looked down at his knees.

This was his fault. 

If he had just been more aware of his surroundings, he wouldn’t have found himself in this position.    
_ Eren _ wouldn’t have found himself in this position and that was what really mattered.

Armin wasn’t going to be the one to save humanity.

Eren was. 

The cart rattled along. Every now and then, it hit a dip or a mount in the road and bounced, jostling the passengers inside.

Klaus and the man who had quickly established himself as the man in charge were seated outside. 

That left them inside the carriage with three others: Weasel, Rough Hands and a nasty looking, clean-shaven fellow who hadn’t said a word yet and instead sat in the corner and scowled at each one of them in turn, even his own comrades.

Weasel shifted, leaning forward and fixing his beady eyes on Eren. He was a small, but wiry man, with a narrow face and unpleasant to look at. His pale hair hung, limp and stringy, over his shoulder.

Eren regarded him back, expression carefully guarded, but the light in his eyes was dangerous. 

“I’m curious,” he said. “So enlighten me if you will. What does it feel like to go all titan?” His lips twisted into a smirk and he leaned forward, steepling his hands under his chin. “How many people have you eaten when the craving gets to be too much?”

Armin’s skin crawled.

Eren grit his teeth. “I don’t eat people.”

“Come on now, son. There’s no need to hide it.” He spread his arms out. “You’re among the lowest of the low. We won’t judge. I promise. So tell me: how many people have you eaten?”

“I told you!” Eren snapped. “I haven’t…!”

“He doesn’t…!” Armin said at the same time before he could control the impulse to speak. 

“Ooh, feisty!” Weasel laughed. “Feeling guilty, maybe?” He tapped the side of his head and winked. “Your conscience must really be bugging you. Do you like it when they scream? Or does it haunt your every waking moment? I want details.”

“The kid says he hasn’t eaten anyone!” It was the nasty looking man who roared, much to the apparent surprise of everyone in the carriage. 

He fell silent immediately afterwards, crossing his arms and scowling off to the side.

Weasel chuckled. “What gives, Martin?” he asked. “Did I hurt your feelings? Don’t worry- it wasn’t personal.”

Martin glared at him but didn’t rise to the bait. 

Weasel seemed about to say more, but Rough Hands interrupted. “That’s enough.”

Weasel looked irked, but he obeyed the directive, sitting back. Considering their close proximity to one another, Armin couldn’t say he was relieved. Although the silence was better than listening to him torment Eren. 

The light was dimming around them. The rattling under the wheels changed. They were no longer driving over a dirt path.

Armin raised his head in alarm and met Eren’s eyes. 

Rough Hands shifted and his lips twisted into a facsimile of a smile.

“Noticing something odd?” he asked. His voice was quiet but the glint in his eyes was just as cruel as Weasel’s had been.

Armin swallowed with a nod. “We’re going underground,” he whispered. 

“That’s right.”

Eren jerked his head, looking to the opening in the canvas. Armin followed his line of sight. 

The cart’s canvas cover made it difficult to see, but he could make out that they had entered a tunnel of some sort. He could see the opening, through which light still shone, still close, but gradually receding. 

He swallowed thickly.

_ Underground. _

Did they think that, by retreating with them underground, they would further prevent Eren from using his titan? Or were they simply looking for a better place to hide their hostages? Perhaps both at once.

His brows drew together thoughtfully, even as his heart beat like a rabbit’s in his chest while he watched the sunlight grow further and further away. 

The underground… A city built into a cavern carved beneath the walls, filled to the brim with humanity’s remaining criminal network.

No one had ever spoken of it in Shiganshina as far as Armin remembered. He hadn’t even heard of it until he had become a cadet, when he remembered accidentally overhearing two of his savvier fellow cadets planning to sneak away on a break day in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to purchase some contraband. 

And then, when he, Eren and Mikasa had first joined the Survey Corps, a member of his squad had shared the rumor that Captain Levi himself had his origins down there.

Regardless of whether or not it was true, Armin had regarded their captain with a little more awe and a little more fear after that. 

Rough Hands tilted his head. “You know what waits for you down there then?”

“Stop playing games, bastard!” Eren snapped, losing patience. “If there’s something you want us to know, then spit it out already!”

Rough Hands’ expression darkened, but before he could say anything, the carriage came to an abrupt halt. 

Quiet voices exchanged conversation directly outside the canvas. At one point, someone loudly guffawed. 

The canvas at the end was pulled aside and a pair of hardened faces peered in. 

“More for the pits, Cain?” one of them finally asked. 

“You bet.” Rough Hands grinned and grabbed Eren by the hair, twisting his head around to face them. “Can guarantee this one’s going to be a real fighter.”

Eren hissed from between clenched teeth.

Armin’s heart stuttered in his chest when he remembered that Eren was only allowing this treatment because of their continued threat to him.

He dropped Eren after letting the other two get a good look at him for a moment or two. “Wouldn’t want to spoil the whole debut,” he muttered. 

The man being addressed laughed harshly. “You can see it in his eyes,” he agreed. He leaned against the back of the cart, resting his chin on the edge. His eyes glittered with malice. “I may have to just stop by and see it for myself.”

Weasel grinned slyly. “How does a front row seat sound in exchange for a lowered rate?” he suggested.

The man returned Weasel’s grin with his own, revealing gapped and yellowed teeth. He scratched the side of his face, pretending to consider it.

“You know what?” he said finally. “Let’s make a deal.” He fished in his pocket for a moment, retrieving a bag of coins. From within, he pinched two coins and tossed them to Weasel. 

Weasel caught them eagerly in his palm, face alight with greed.

“Hand it over to Leo,” Rough Hands said sharply. “That belongs to all of us.”

Weasel glowered, but his protest was cut off by twin looks from Martin and Rough Hands. Grumbling, he climbed to his feet and picked his way carefully to the front of the cart. Parting the canvas, he exchanged a few words with the two up front. Presumably, the money changed hands.

He returned to his place at Armin’s side, brushing up against Armin’s side. 

Armin shrank back.

“Eh?” Weasel eyed Armin as if just remembering he was there. “What’s the matter?” he leaned in close. Armin caught a whiff of his breath, rank and disgusting. “Don’t like my company? That hurts my feelings.” He laughed to himself and sat back, crossing his legs and looking damn well pleased with himself. 

Armin took a shaky breath and locked eyes with Eren, tight-lipped Eren who had likely been watching the entire interaction like a hawk and who looked like he wanted nothing more than to wring Weasel’s scrawny neck.

“The pit?” he asked, once the cart had started moving again. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know, but… they were going there, weren’t they? 

Rough Hands stretched his arms out, popping his joints. 

Weasel cocked his head and some private look passed between the two of them. 

Slowly, a sly smile spread across Weasel’s face and he lifted his chin.

“I guess,” he said, “that that’s the big surprise. Isn’t it?”

He laughed again and Rough Hands joined in, enjoying a joke only they were privy to.

Martin shifted his legs and glowered at the pair of them.

For some reason, Armin focused on him. He was the only one of this group who seemed to have any qualms about the situation. 

Armin inhaled softly, mind racing.

Maybe they could use that.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am equal parts uncertain and excited about this chapter- Annie is one of my favorite characters- I'd say she was my favorite AOT woman, but... she's also competing with Mikasa, Historia and Hange, so I'm calling it a four way tie- and I was really excited about including her. However, this is where the possible inconsistencies with canon comes in. I wasn't sure where I wanted to place this in season one. This chapter sort of unintentionally made that decision for me and this story is set between Annie's first appearance as the Female Titan and the season one climax, since, if I'm recalling correctly, Armin waited a month before voicing his suspicions on Annie because he was afraid of being wrong. That gives me some room to work my timeline in.  
> Also, it was just a bit more interesting to write an Annie who was still doing her thing, but who was also worried about whether or not she was going to be found out.  
> (If I'm wrong, well... it's true for this story: Armin waited because he was afraid of being wrong.)  
> Also, just a heads up that I will be drawing from the canon of Attack on Titan: Before the Fall for this story. It won't be anything big, so you don't need to have read that series to understand this one, but I will be pulling from that world as well.

Annie tugged her hood down and observed the people milling around her cooly. Any other place and she knew she would be regarded with suspicion. 

Here in this place, no one so much as gave her a second glance.

Everyone here had their secrets they’d rather not have uncovered. No one was going to stop and consider what hers might be.

That was one less thing she had to worry about. 

She was still burning after her failed attempt to capture Eren, still wondering if she should be looking over her shoulder, if anyone had even begun to guess the identity of the mysterious female titan who had ambushed them beyond the walls, if any of them had begun to look her way.

But the days had passed until it was now two weeks since her attack and not a single soul had so much as given her a sideways glance.

So she would try again, but until that time came, she would keep digging up whatever she could on humanity within the walls.

Annie caught sight of her contact before he did her and straightened from up against the wall. Instead of moving forward to meet him, she turned away, weaving her way through the crowd.

Her contact would see and follow her. 

Like the others, she had no idea what this one’s name was. What was the point? This accursed mission would only end with him dead along with everyone else behind these three walls. 

The fewer connections she made, the better.

Annie turned a corner several paces down into an alleyway and waited for him to show himself.

Several minutes later and he did.

“What do you have for me?” she asked without preamble. She reached into her pocket, closing her hand around a few coins, but she didn’t take them out. 

He handed her a folded note. “My money?” 

She dumped it in his hand- and he quickly shoved it deep in a pocket, like he was afraid she might try to take it back from him- and unfolded the note, scanning the information.

She narrowed her eyes at the name written down. 

“Rod Reiss?”

She had heard that name before in passing. 

Her contact shrugged, shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his trousers.

“You wanted names.”

She did. And she had followed so many leads that had ended up being nothing, so many dead ends, that there were nights where she wanted nothing more than to scream into her pillow. 

Ultimately, that wouldn’t bring her any closer to her end goal than everything else she had done, but it would certainly feel good.

She controlled her temper regardless and hoped Bertolt and Reiner were having better luck on their end. 

Aside from the name, there wasn’t much. He had lost his family when their chapel caught fire during prayers and had mostly secluded himself away from the public eye.

She raised her eyebrow at the additional note at the bottom. 

“What was so odd about the fire?”

Again, her contact shrugged. “People just said it was weird. Like the whole structure had collapsed in on itself.”

A collapsed structure wasn’t unusual in the case of a fire where weakened support beams could bring the whole thing down on itself. But it could also mean something else. 

Annie didn’t allow herself to grow excited. It didn’t necessarily mean  _ anything  _ else other than a fire.

Still, it didn’t make sense. Why would a collapsed chapel be considered strange in the case of a fire?

She chewed her lip, brow furrowing in concentration. 

“That’s not enough for it to be considered strange,” she said, taking care to keep her tone level.

For the first time, her contact’s lips quirked upwards. 

“Well… apparently, there was no sign of a fire having ever happened there that night.”

_ What? _

Annie did her best to school her features, but some of her surprise must have slipped through anyways because he grinned wider. 

“If you ask me,” he said, sounding the words out with infuriating slowness, “it all sounds  _ awfully _ suspicious.”

He was right. It was suspicious. 

It could very well be a wild goose chase, but it could also lead somewhere. She’d have to dig deeper to find out. 

Crumbling the note, she shoved it in her pocket. “Thanks.”   
He grunted. “Long as you keep paying me, don’t mention it.” He turned around, waving a careless hand over his shoulder.

Annie turned and went her own way, reviewing the new facts over in her mind.

A family killed in a fire that, allegedly, had never actually happened, with the patriarch being the only survivor.

Rod Reiss…

Was it possible…?

Her heart rate picked up. 

A building reduced to rubble… It couldn’t have been an accidental collapse. There would have been no need to cover it up with the story about a fire if that had been the case. 

Maybe no one would have understood the significance of that aside from someone like her. After all, as far as anyone knew, there had been no titans on this side of the walls until recently with the fall of Wall Maria and the Shiganshina District. 

She and her two companions were the only three who would know any differently.

And now Eren too. 

* * *

“Where have you been?” Hitch asked. She sighed before Annie could refuse to answer. “Nevermind. Don’t answer that. You got a letter today.”

Annie hid her surprise as she took her place next to Hitch, assuming posture. 

“Private Leonhart.” The commanding officer took notice and approached. “You’re the last one to arrive.”

She wasn’t late. She knew that for a fact.

“Yes, sir.” She met his eyes without flinching. 

She was very familiar with people like him, people who used their status and power to intimidate and control the ones below them.

“Perhaps you’d like to give an explanation?” He smiled, almost sardonically. 

“I got lost.”

For a moment, he stared at her, completely flabbergasted by her deadpan answer, before bursting into momentary laughter. When he saw that she was completely serious, his expression flattened. He stared at her for a good moment longer, but when she didn’t break eye contact, he turned away with a disgusted snort and began roll call. “You know your posts,” he finished.

Hitch moved to be closer to her. “Guess I’m with you,” she said and she grinned. 

Annie huffed. 

After a second or two, she gave it up and joined Annie and the rest of their squad for the day.

“You said something about a letter?”

There weren’t many people she could see leaving a message for her, outside of Bertolt and Reiner. 

By mutual, unspoken agreement, they kept communication to a minimum. It was just better that way.

For them to reach out to her, if it really was them- but she couldn’t think of anyone else it could be; she had never gotten close enough with her fellow cadets for them to want to send her something- something had to have gone wrong on the other side of the wall.

Very wrong. 

It was too early to be dealing with this.

Annie exhaled a tired breath and mentally prepared herself for the day.

It was going to be long.

In the end, she wasn’t able to get a look at the message until just before she crawled into bed.

She’d have to destroy it when she was done with it. A letter was risky, but word of mouth was even more so. 

She read it over… and then she read it over again for good measure, eyes narrowing.

“Something wrong?” Hitch stepped into the room, towelling off her hair. 

“Nothing’s wrong,” Annie lied. She crumbled the note in her hand. 

“Oh.” Hitch grinned, big and wide. “It’s a note from a lover, isn’t it? That’s what’s got you all upset.”

“It’s not.” 

That couldn’t be further from the truth, in fact.

“Go to bed, Hitch.”

Hitch frowned, sticking out her tongue for the briefest of an instant, before unwrapping her head and shaking out her hair.

“You’re never any fun, Annie. Why’d I have to get stuck with such a stick in the mud?”

Annie flattened her lips and declined to answer. If not encouraged, Hitch quickly lost interest. And she did.

Annie flopped down on her back with a sigh.

She tried entirely too hard to be her friend, but Annie had neither the time nor the desire for forging friendships.

She rolled onto her side and mulled over the contents of the letter. Reiner had been as vague as it was possible to be, leaving Annie to fill in the blanks herself, but the news still wasn’t good.

Eren was missing.

The assumption being that he was abducted and Armin with him. 

Her jaw clenched.

Once again, Eren had slipped entirely out of their grasp. 

She knew, without needing to be told, what Reiner was asking of her. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a couple day's late. I'm so sorry. I was honestly too exhausted to even think about posting something else over the weekend and then Mondays are when I like to get a good chunk of classwork done, so there was no time to do any posting yesterday, but... here it is, two days late but still here.
> 
> Also, to all my readers, thank you so much for being patient and understanding with me. 
> 
> So... chapter three taught me that I very much enjoy writing about Levi from someone else's perspective. Chapter five has taught me that writing from Levi's perspective is... challenging to say the least.

“So you heard then?” Levi pulled the chair out and sat down.

“I have.” Erwin nodded. His hands were clasped loosely on the table in front of him. “It’s… troubling to say the least.”

Levi hummed in agreement, eyebrows scrunched lower. That was an understatement if he had ever heard one.

Eren Yeager was an insufferable brat most of the time, but a lot still rested on his shoulders.

The fate of humanity being one of those things.

He was, after all, perhaps their greatest shot at finally vanquishing the titans for good. 

For him to vanish like this… It put everything at risk. 

“You think there’s a chance the military police are involved in this?”

It shouldn’t even be a question. He didn’t need Erwin to confirm what he already suspected.

“I do,” Erwin said gravely. “Of course, if that were the case, they would be…”

The door burst open, cutting him off mid sentence. Or, more accurately, it was kicked open and Hange practically spilled into the room, exuding the sort of wild energy that was exclusive to her.

Levi closed his eyes with a sigh. 

“Sorry I’m late.” She grabbed a chair, pulled it out and dropped herself down into it. “What happened?”

“Yeager and his little friend have both disappeared.” It didn’t take long for Levi to fill her in on the current events. “Presumably, they were both abducted.”

“That’s believable,” she said immediately. “I’m sure there are plenty of people who want to cut him up, see what’s inside, and…”

“Hange,” Levi interrupted her, “this is not the time. And this is Eren, not one of your experiments.”

“Right.” She blushed, but her eyes still glittered the way they did when anything regarding the titans was the subject of conversation. “And you think…”

“That the military police could be part of this, yes.”

It was what he initially suspected and could very well be what had happened. 

Something still didn’t sit right with him and he had learned long ago to trust his gut instincts.

That was true. Custody of Eren had been legally awarded to the Survey Corps since that day in the courtroom. 

If the military police really had abducted him, it would cause a lot of problems for a lot of people. Levi wasn’t unaware of the corruption allowed to run rampant in the political sphere these days. Even with that corruption, it would still be hard to avoid trouble if it came out that the military police had acted on their own and taken the titan shifter and his friend.

Although, Levi thought darkly, that wouldn’t be the case if they were acting on secret orders from high above. 

That wouldn’t particularly surprise him. 

“And Armin?” Hange pressed.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Levi only knew the bare bones of what had happened in Trost. Eren didn’t remember a good portion of what had happened before he reemerged from apparent death in the body of a titan and Armin shied away from ever speaking about whatever terrible memories he had from that day, but what he did know was this: Eren was willing to die for his friend. 

Even without knowing that, it was obvious to anyone who watched them interact how close they were. “They found themselves a way to keep the titan collared.” 

There was no other reason to take Armin. He was a strategic thinker and a valuable one, but he was no titan. 

He wouldn’t hold the same interest for someone that Eren would, so the only reason to hold onto him for any length of time would be continuing to keep Eren in line.

There was another possibility though and that was that they would find Armin’s body in a ditch somewhere.

For Armin’s sake, as well as the rest of the kids in his squad, he hoped that wasn’t the case. 

* * *

When Levi walked away from that meeting, satisfied with Erwin’s promise to start digging deeper, he was only about halfway surprised to find Mikasa demolishing training dummies. 

He supposed it was just fortunate she was taking her frustrations out on training dummies, rather than an unfortunate human being. 

Not that he particularly cared and he wasn’t sure he would have entirely objected had she decided to beat the answers out of someone, but explaining her actions would bring more trouble than it was worth.

For now.

She was still unaware of him. 

Or maybe it just seemed that way.

He decided the time had come to announce his presence.

“How long before you wear yourself out, brat?” 

“Captain,” she practically growled, delivering a kick that he  _ was  _ surprised didn’t knock the head straight off the dummy. 

He stepped closer, seamlessly catching her arm before she could throw the next punch. 

“You’ll wear yourself out, brat,” he told her, “and then where will you be?”

She strained against him, still desperate to throw that punch. 

“Save that energy for the ones who actually deserve it,” he said. 

She stopped fighting against him and he released her arm a moment afterwards, taking a step back. 

“You’re here by yourself?”

“Jean offered to join me. I said no.” She walked away from him, grabbing that stupid red scarf from where she had laid it and tossing it around her neck. She was putting an effort into keeping her fury hidden, but it was still obvious to Levi.

Levi wasn’t prone to the sentimental crap, but he also wasn’t as heartless as he led people to assume. 

He’d had close friends before. Had people now who could become close friends if he allowed that to happen. 

Not that he ever would. 

He understood how she was feeling. 

The difference between them being that Farlan and Isabel were never coming back. She still had her chance to save Eren and Armin. 

Losing Eren so soon again after what had happened- and Armin with him- must have had her near the point of breaking and so she wrapped herself in this protective shield of anger. 

That anger could be useful, if she knew where to direct it, but it could also cause her to self-destruct if she wasn’t careful. 

Levi was already down two men. He didn’t want to be down a third.

“Listen, brat,” he told her, “the commander will be looking into this matter.”

From the look on her face, this answer didn’t satisfy her. 

Good, because it wasn’t meant to. 

He knew what she wanted. She wanted to actually be out there doing something, not relegated to a bystander on the sidelines.

He continued, “But just because he’s doing that, doesn’t mean I’m about to let you all sit on your asses doing nothing.”

He could see the unasked questions in her eyes.

“The military police aren’t the only ones who might have taken Eren. They’re just the ones with the most obvious interest.”

Mikasa frowned. “You don’t think they did it.” It wasn’t so much a question as it was an observation. She was sharp.

“I didn’t say that,” he said, sighing. “But yes, more or less, that’s what I think.”

She narrowed her eyes. He had her complete attention now. 

She didn’t ask him who or what. Instead, she asked, “What are we going to do about it?”

“Track them down on our own if we have to,” he said. “If Yeager thinks he gets to slack off just because he’s been kidnapped, he’s got another thing coming.”

He thought he saw the tiniest of smirks from Mikasa at that. She nodded. “Right.”

“One more thing, brat.” He called her back before she could leave. “For now, don’t share what we’ve discussed. I don’t want the others getting themselves worked up over nothing.”

Mikasa nodded once and turned away. 

Satisfied with her response, Levi let her leave. 

* * *

Mikasa ran her fingers through her hair. Keeping her hair short meant less maintenance, but it still got sweaty and knotted. Deftly, she worked her fingers all the way through.

She went over what Levi had told her, dragging her hair off the back of her neck and tying it up. 

Commander Erwin was investigating himself. 

“Mikasa!”

Jean called out to her. Considering her rebuff from earlier, he looked noticeably wary as he approached. 

Her chest felt tighter and her stomach knotted. 

Mikasa stopped and waited for him to catch up to her.

“Hey,” he said, once they were side by side, “did you… Is there any news? I know the captain went to talk with you. Did he have anything to say?”

There was genuine concern in his voice and Mikasa was reminded that he did share a genuine friendship with Armin, regardless of his tenuous relationship with Eren. 

Mikasa thought back to what Levi had told her. “He had nothing to say,” she lied.

“Oh.”Jean’s face fell. 

Mikasa bit her lip and swallowed down the guilt.

She had other things to worry about.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so... like an idiot, I went to look over this chapter before posting it and realized... I had never completed it! I had hit a stumbling block and so I simply moved on to the next chapter with the intent of returning to this one... except apparently I never did!   
> So I had to take some time fixing this, which... took longer than it had to because I needed a small break from writing Attack on Titan and did some goofing off in the Tokyo Ghoul fandom instead- but... here it is! And if there are any inconsistencies left from my original draft, I do apologize. I tried to catch them all.

They had separated him and Eren almost the exact moment they disembarked from the wagon, much to Armin’s dismay. 

Almost immediately after the cart came to a halt, they were greeted by a slim woman with tousled brown hair who had marched over and then promptly punched Rough Hands in the arm with a fierce grin. 

Weasel guffawed loudly, slapping his knee, and Rough Hands grabbed his offended arm, actually looking genuinely offended. “Ow. What the hell was that for?”

She ignored his inquiry and stepped forward and around him, angling her head to get a look at Armin.

For some reason, Armin felt more uncomfortable under her shrewd gaze then he had under the gaze of any of the others. 

“So this is the new stock?” 

Stock. Like they were animals or merchandise, rather than people. Armin grimaced. “I thought you were bringing men, not boys.” She frowned at Armin when he was dragged down from the wagon. “Not very impressive, is he?” She grabbed his chin, twisting his head this way and that, eyebrows drawn down low and shading her eyes. 

Armin stiffened. 

“What the hell are you expecting us to do with this one?” she demanded. “He’ll be eaten alive in there. Or am I supposed to believe that this is the titan?”

“Stop touching him!” Eren snapped. Martin stood at his side, keeping a grip on his shoulder.

“What did we tell you, brat?” Rough Hands raised one hand as though to deliver a blow.

“Don’t hit him,” the woman said, frowning.

Rough Hands let his hand fall, but he didn’t look happy about it.

“Lena…” he muttered. “We made promises. He can’t just get away with sassing us like that.” The protest was half-hearted though, like he knew better than to contradict her.

That was interesting. 

Armin took a deep breath and filed that away for later use.

“Cain,” she countered, not about to be swayed. “I don’t care. Not right now, I don’t.”

She released his face anyways and turned to get a better look at Eren. She tilted her head and regarded him, a strange glint in her eyes. 

“Lena…” The leader sounded tired when he climbed down from the front. Klaus was busy unhitching the horses. “Give it a rest already.”   
Her lips twisted, but she shook her head, containing whatever retort she had been considering. 

“This is the titan, huh?” She looked him up and down. “Well, at least he looks like a fighter. Unlike his friend here. You really know how to pick them, Leo.” She added that last bit with a disdainful lilt in her voice. 

“Although,” she then said thoughtfully after a pause, sliding a finger under Armin’s chin, “this one might be good for the brothels. We have customers who like that sort of thing.”

Armin’s breath hitched. She couldn’t mean… Would they really…?

“What are you talking about?” Eren demanded. “I swear, I’ll kill you…!”

“Shut up!” This time, the blow landed before anyone saw it coming. 

Eren slumped forward, caught before he could hit the ground. He was still conscious, just dazed, but that was enough.

He didn’t put up much more of a fight.

“Eren…” Armin had twisted his head, desperate for one last look at his friend as he was hustled away. 

Why were they splitting them up? Breaths were getting harder to come by.

“Armin!” Eren shouted over his shoulder before he was hustled away. “I trust you!”

“What?” The word was no more than a mere breath and Armin was pulled away too quickly to try again, so of course, he never got his answer.

_ I trust you.  _

The words echoed in the chamber of his skull. 

He was certain they were meant to be a reassurance, but Armin couldn’t help but feel that any trust Eren might feel was misplaced.

Armin had placed them in this situation after all, simply by the fruit of his own helplessness. 

He raised his head, taking in his surroundings. 

If he had come here under different circumstances, maybe he would have marveled more at the structure of this underground city, wanted to know more about the architecture of this place. 

Oil lamps illuminated the streets, casting eerie shadows in the corners beyond their reach.

Now he caught sight of several lurking figures in the shadows. Not one of them made a move or seemed the slightest bit bothered by the sight of obvious captives.

A cacophony of voices surged as one in a cheer. 

“Curious?” Martin asked him, keeping his voice down. 

Armin wanted to ask him what there was to be curious about. He didn’t. The words were stuck in his throat. 

The cheer grew louder before dying down. They passed under an archway and, when it started up again, this time it was directly above them.

Now that Armin could hear it more clearly, he realized it wasn’t really a cheer at all, but instead an ugly chorus of coarse laughter and jeers. 

Beneath that was the sound and stench of human misery. 

Rattling chains, stale urine and vomit.

With the dim lighting from the few oil lamps, Armin could see bars. Even several figures that peered out at him. 

A shudder wracked his frame and Armin faltered in his step.

Martin kept him moving forward.

What was this place? Why had they separated him and Eren? Were they taking Eren somewhere similar?

“Why are you doing this?” Armin asked, voice barely above a whisper. 

Martin didn’t answer him. 

He cleared his throat, striving for more volume when he next opened his mouth.

“You don’t really want to be doing this, do you?” he ventured. “You could…” 

He was grasped by the shirt collar before he could finish, hauled back and slammed up against the metal bars. The startled yell died in his throat when a forearm was shoved up against his windpipe.

“Don’t talk to me like you know me,” he spat. “You don’t know  _ shit, _ kid!”

Armin rasped, struggling to drag in air. His foot kicked out, catching the big man just below the knee, but he didn’t even seem to feel it.

His eyes sought out the other man’s face. In the dim light, he could hardly see it, but a madness had taken over his face.

The pressure on his windpipe increased and Armin felt panic taking over his brain as his air supply was increasingly cut off. 

It occurred to him that he had judged this man wrong, made his move too quickly. It was a mistake that was costing him.

He jerked against the cords binding his wrists. Unsurprisingly, there was no give. 

The man snapped back to himself, dropping Armin with enough suddenness that he had no chance of getting his feet back underneath himself and so he dropped straight to the floor.

The impact sent a painful jolt up his spine and he yelped.

Martin towered over him.

The lamps cast deep shadows across his face. Reading his expression was impossible. 

“You know, a lot of people down here have never seen a titan,” he said, “but that’s not true for everyone.”

Armin sucked in a breath.

“I don’t know what kind of weirdo your friend is,” he continued, “or what kind of titan becomes a human.”

“Eren hasn’t hurt anyone,” Armin whispered, cutting him off. “He’s trying to save everyone.”

“Shut up!” For the first time, Armin noticed the man’s clenched and trembling fists down by his side. “I swear, kid, if you don’t shut up…” He bent over, hauling Armin back to his feet. “I might not be as bad as the others, but if you keep talking like that, I might actually hit you.”

Armin kept his mouth shut for the rest of their trek, knowing better than to test his luck a second time. 

They stopped and Martin fiddled at his side for something, before pulling a key from his pocket. 

A key… If Armin could find a way to get his hands on that… 

Martin yanked the cell door open and shoved him through it. 

Armin stumbled forward, unable to break his fall in any way, and tried to catch himself with his knees. As it was, he barely managed to angle his body to avoid face-planting on the ground. He still hit the ground hard, taking the brunt with his hip and shoulder with a grunt. 

A thin layer of straw was strewn across the floor, but it had done nothing to cushion his landing. 

Someone stirred in the next cell over. “He really mustn’t like you,” a voice purred. 

“What?” Armin asked, struggling to sit up. 

The man in the next cell over was watching him. Armin could barely make out his silhouette.

“He left you tied up, didn’t he?” This was followed by a derogatory snicker. “You’re in for a painful night. What did you do to piss him off?”

Someone on the other side banged against the bars. 

The sound was loud and sudden and Armin flinched. 

“Shut up, you slimy, rat bastard!” 

This dragged another low chuckle from the other prisoner. “I have a name, Kurt.”   


“Could care less about your name,” the one called Kurt grunted. “Shut up or I’ll tear you in two next time.”

A snort followed this. “Whatever.”

At least the threat seemed to have done its intended job and rendered him silent afterwards.

Armin shut his eyes and let his head fall back.

Regardless, tonight was going to be a long night.

* * *

Eren staggered forward, held upright by the grip on his elbow. 

The world around him was fuzzy, but he was aware that he was being moved and away from Armin.

If they hurt him… 

His escort was the big man who had threatened Armin, the one who had held him still and stifled his voice so the other could break his ankle.

He scowled. He’d remember that later. 

“Listen, titan boy.” The big man’s arm snaked around his shoulder and pulled him close. Eren grit his teeth. “Maybe you think you can try something here, use your titan powers, maybe you think that since your friend is out of sight, you’ll have a chance. That maybe we won’t hurt him. But you wanna know why we’re keeping you two apart?” He paused, letting Eren stew over that question. “If you try anything- even if you get free- you won’t be able to protect him.” He dropped his voice, leaning in close enough for Eren to feel his breath on his face. “I can promise you that he’ll die screaming before you have even a chance to save him.”

“You  _ bastard!” _

The man’s hand tangled in his hair, yanking him down to his knees and bringing him to heel like a dog.

Eren’s fingers itched with the urge to  _ destroy. _ With effort, he clamped it down. 

The pain in his scalp was overpowered by the fury in his heart.

The sight of Armin with a knife at his throat was still far too fresh in his mind for him to risk making that threat a reality. 

That...  _ suggestion _ that the woman had made was still too fresh in his mind.

Armin couldn’t afford to have him screwing up anymore than he already had. 

Still, the memory made him  _ rage. _

How dare they threaten Armin? 

“If you kill him,” he ground out, “there won’t be a single thing keeping me from tearing you apart. You want to see what a titan can do? I’ll show you!”

He bucked against the man’s hold on his hair, but he was quickly jerked back down.

“You’ll still have a dead friend.” The man gave a harsh tug and Eren clenched his teeth. The stone floor was grinding into his knees. “But you don’t want that, so I trust you’ll stay in line.”

He released his grip on Eren’s hair and allowed him to climb unsteadily to his feet. 

Eren glared balefully at him, painfully aware of his inability to do anything to defend either himself or Armin if it came to that. 

But he would. 

He was confident that they would find a way out of this. When he had told Armin he trusted him, he had meant it with every fiber of his being. Eren had always been one to use his fists before his head, but even he knew that there were times when that wasn’t a viable option. 

Right now, this was one of those times. 

He knew Armin would be thinking- no,  _ agonizing-  _ over possible ways out of their predicament. 

That was how Armin worked. He was thoughtful. Strong where Eren was weak. 

Eren couldn’t protect Armin right now- they had taken that away from him- but he could make sure his best friend knew that he believed in him.


End file.
